A Chance Encounter
by thepotterheadfrommiddleearth
Summary: A younger Legolas meets a much younger Gimli. It may be slightly inaccurate... sorry. DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to JRR Tolkien.


Legolas sat outside the hall, impatiently poking the dirt with a stick. His dad was inside, discussing a 'matter of great importance' that he 'wouldn't understand' because he was 'only a child'. Legolas was 89 human years old, a mere child in the eyes of an elf. And he was bored. The stick in his hand snapped. He placed it on the ground next to him, arranging it so the break was invisible. This was ridiculous. He just wanted to do something, anything- he felt his fingers slowly reach for the dagger in his pocket. No. He shouldn't. But he was alone...

Legolas drew out the dagger, it's metallic blade glinting in the afternoon light. He traced the beautifully intricate designs with his long slender fingers. The dagger was clean of rust and marks- it was brand new. It had been a gift for his birthday. He held it tighter now, moving the hilt around in his hand, feeling the cool metal underneath his soft skin. He felt an irrepressible, un-elfly surge of anger overpower him and he raised the blade and threw it as hard as he could at a nearby tree trunk. He gasped. He couldn't believe he'd done it, but there was the blade, sticking out of the tree trunk, still quivering, as proof. He didn't know what had caused his burst of anger, but he knew it was bottled up annoyance at being excluded from the meeting. He regained his usual calm and collected state and went to retrieve the dagger.  
"Ouch!" Legolas stumbled over a small shape on the ground. It was bigger than a rock, and he could have sworn it was quivering too. He bent down to examine this peculiar object.  
"Please don't hurt me!" The object said. Legolas' eyes widened- what was this? Slowly, it unfurled and Legolas saw that it was a small child. He wasn't an elfling, no- he was much too small and hairy. He could be a man-child, but he looked too... Squat to be that. Nevertheless, the child was still quivering at his feet, almost in tears, and Legolas felt almost obliged to comfort him.  
"There there, little... boy" Legolas trying to rest an arm on the child's shoulder, and the boy edged away from it. "I won't hurt you."  
"But you just... the knife..." The child motioned to the knife still protruding out of the tree.  
"That was an accident." Said Legolas.  
"Are you an elf?" Continued the child.  
"Yes, yes I am." Legolas stood up to his full height, and stretched out his arm to aid the child. "Daddy says to never trust elves." Said the child matter-of-factly, and helped himself up. Legolas was surprised.  
"What? Who is your father, and why doesn't he trust elves?"  
"My name is Gimli. My father's name is Gloin."  
"Dwarves?" Asked Legolas. He had pretty much cast aside his elvish grace as he spoke to the dwarfling- it appeared to have no affect on him.  
"Yep." Gimli walked over to the tree trunk and tried to reach the dagger that was sticking out. He fell at least 40cm short.  
"Here- let me." Legolas plucked the dagger out of the tree and pocketed it.  
"Why'd you throw it into a tree?" Gimli asked.  
"I... I don't quite know." Legolas smiled softly at the child. He liked this dwarf, despite his dislike for elves.  
"You're not like most elves." Gimli decided.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Daddy says that all elves have reasons they will not tell, that will leave you in confusion. And you don't even know what you did it for!" Decided Gimli. Legolas paused for a second. That was actually quite true, now that he thought about it.  
"I suppose I'm not a regular elf." Muttered Legolas. He hadn't realised he's said it out loud until Gimli said "See? I told you!"  
"Well, you're not a regular dwarf, either."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Most dwarves wouldn't dream of speaking to an elf so boldly."  
"Why? You're not scary."  
Legolas was offended. Ok, so he didn't want to be scary, as such, but it would be nice to be feared a little- or even to be acknowledged as intimidating by this little child. Did no one think he was anything more than a child?  
"You're really tall." Commented Gimli.  
"Of course I am- I'm an elf" Legolas replied, slightly annoyed.

"No- you're tall for an elf." Decided Gimli. Legolas couldn't help but notice that Gimli had a rather neat way of saying things- short and decisive. This was quite different from the way elves spoke. Elves liked to speak in long and elaborate riddles that twisted and turned and left a hint of confusion behind. But according to Gimli, he didn't speak like this. The strange thing was, this didn't annoy him as much as it should've.

"Are you married?" Gimli asked again. They were now sitting side by side in the shade of the tree, gazing at the bottom step of the stairs.  
"Excuse me? Married? I'm not even considered an adult! Why would I be married?"  
"I don't know... You're just..." Huh. Legolas had never seen an embarrassed dwarf before. Gimli was blushing. "I think women would like you." He concluded.

"Oh... Thank you, I suppose." Legolas was taken aback. Was the dwarfling implying he was handsome? Gimli giggled a little. It was a shame that Gimli looked so... un-elfly. He really was quite funny.  
"Legolas? Are you there?" Legolas heard his fathers voice call from the hall, along with a scurry of footsteps. The meeting must have been over.  
"Did he just ask if you were legless?" Gimli chuckled.  
"No. That's my name- Legolas."  
"Leg-o-las... yeah. I like that name."Gimli reached out and shook his hand. Legolas was a little surprised at first, but he liked it. It was nice to be treated like a real person for once- or even a superior person, at that. "It was pretty awesome meeting you." The dwarfling concluded.  
"Oh... Yeah, I guess it was... 'Awesome'" Legolas laughed. His father would have scowled at him for using such an unelfly word as 'awesome'. But it felt good to say it out loud.  
"I hope I'll see you again!" Gimli hesitated, then hugged Legolas. He only managed to hug Legolas' knees. Legolas was a little startled, but he ended up bending down and patting Gimli on the head. "Legolas! We have places to be!" It sounded like Thranduil was descending the steps.  
"I have to go, Gimli, I'm sorry."  
"Ok! Bye!" And with that, Gimli scurried away into the bushes.

Ugh. Dwarves. Legolas didn't like having to fight for dwarves. But it appeared all the spiders we're gone now, and their land was safe- or so they hoped.  
"Search them!" One of the elves commanded. Legolas was jostled around until he was facing a red-bearded one with scowling eyes. Legolas rolled his eyes and began searching him. He pulled out a picture frame, with two picture in it. He couldn't help himself- he wasn't in a good mood. Legolas had to make a comment.

"Who's this- your brother?" He asked with disdain.  
"That's my wife!" Replied the dwarf defensively.  
But Legolas wasn't done irritating him- there was another picture in the frame.  
"And what is this horrid creature? A goblin mutant?"  
"That's my wee lad, Gimli." The dwarf said, with a definitive air that implied the conversation was over. Legolas glanced into the dwarf's eyes. Gimli... the name sounded familiar. His hand instinctively went to the dagger sheathed at his side. He had a vision of that very dagger stuck in a tree, quivering slightly, with a small child reaching up to it. Gimli... Hmmm.

**Hey guys!**

**So today, I did something I wouldn't usually do. I took something from the movie rather than the book. I know that Legolas didn't actually appear in the Hobbit, however I thought it'd add that little bit in the end in for fun- it just kinda tied in nicely. **

**I know, I know, I'm usually anti- using movies over books, but since when has FanFiction been realistic?**

**Also, the formatting for submitting documents to has changed- how do I insert bars to break text? Nothing's working!**

**Anyways. I hope you have a great day!**

**\- The Potterhead from Middle Earth**


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